Seventeen-year-old Katherine Herbert, a Choral Artists of Sarasota apprentice singer, receives a $1,000 scholarship to further her vocal training.

(Sarasota-Manatee) Choral Artists of Sarasota, Sarasota’s professional chorus, has announced that one of the ensemble’s apprentice singers, Katherine Herbert, is the winner of its 2018 Barbara Diles Apprentice Scholarship. Herbert, who is 17 years old and a senior at Booker High School, will receive $1,000 to be used towards college tuition and/or private coaching to further her vocal training.

Herbert, a soprano, was recently admitted to Juilliard School of Music. She won, for the second year in a row, second-place award at the 2018 Schmidt Youth Vocal Competition. In 2017, Herbert won a Suncoast Music Scholarship award for voice. She studied at the Schmidt Vocal Institute in the summer of 2017 and also at Westminster College in Princeton, N.J., for two summers. Herbert has been active in the Sarasota Youth Opera (2009-2018), singing several roles, including two world premieres. She also sang at the 2017 Sarasota Festival of Vocal Arts. Herbert is president of the National Honor Society at Booker High School.

“We’re fortunate to have been able to work with this dedicated and wonderfully talented young woman,” says Susan Burke, executive director of Choral Artists of Sarasota. “It’s deeply rewarding to support her with this scholarship as she moves forward into a promising musical career.”

The scholarship fund was created in 2015 in memory of singer and Choral Artists board member Barbara Diles, an avid supporter of the musical arts and of young artists. The scholarship benefits current or previous Choral Artist apprentice singers between the ages of 16 and 22, who are chosen via audition each season to perform with the 32 professional singers that comprise the group.

Founded in 1979, Choral Artists of Sarasota (formerly Gloria Musicae), Sarasota’s professional chorus, presents the greatest hits of the last four centuries along with lesser known gems and the work of living composers with imaginative programming and musical excellence. The chorus consists of 32 professional singers and eight apprentices.

The Choral Artists of Sarasota, now in its 39th season, features 32 of the region’s most notable professional singers. The group celebrates the rich, artistic expressiveness of choral music through innovative repertoire, inspired performances and stimulating educational outreach. Under the artistic direction of Dr. Joseph Holt, Choral Artists of Sarasota performs a repertoire spanning four centuries, and includes symphonic choral works, intimate madrigals, folk songs, close-harmony jazz, and Broadway show music. The ensemble also specializes in premiere performances of lesser-known choral works—particularly music by living American composers. Choral Artists of Sarasota has performed premieres by René Clausen, Dick Hyman, Robert Levin, Gwyneth Walker and James Grant. As part of the organization’s educational outreach, eight young singers, ages 16 to 22, are invited to join the group each year. For more information, visit www.ChoralArtistsSarasota.org.